The Nutty Professor (1996)
The Nutty Professor is the remake of the classic Jerry Lewis movie by the same name. When I saw that movie, Lewis' expressions made me laugh so hard that I started to cry. When I saw the previews for the new remake, I was making up excuses for me not to see it. I didn't want to see it. I knew it wouldn't be as funny as the original. I also figured that Murphy, judging from his last movies, would destroy the film.
However, my friends reluctantly made me go. I got so much more than I expected. The movie isn't as funny as the original, but Eddie Murphy shines as the loveable Sherman Klump and the hateable Buddy Love. Jerry Lewis helped remake the movie, which might explain why it is so good. The comedy is inventive and hilarious. The funniest parts are when the family is gathered around the table. The entire family, except for the young kid, is played by Eddie Murphy.
The movie is about Sherman Klump, a very fat man who works as a science teacher for a college. The movie seems to be one long fat joke, but it handles the issue well. His job is on the line but if he gets the $10 million deal, his job will be fine. As in all good comedies, there has to be a love interest. Here, it is Miss Purty, played by Jada Pinkett. The romantic connection between these two are exciting, but only when he is Klump. It is especially funny when she comes over to his house for dinner.
When Miss Purty asks Sherman if he would like to go to Screamers, a wild club, he says yes. While they are there, a stand-up comic (played by Dave Chapelle) begins to make fun of people in the audience. Sherman realizes that the comic will soon see him and so he tries to get out of the place. The comic spots him and makes fun of him with lines like: "I think I found where they hid Jimmy Hoffa!" This makes us sympathize with Sherman and hate the comic.
This sequence also sets up the main twist in the plot, where Sherman tries an experimental DNA restructurization potion. This potion changes him into the awful Buddy Love. At first, he is funny as he asks Miss Purty out on a date to go to Screamers. I knew this moment was coming and I couldn't wait. While they are there, the same comic comes out on stage and Buddy Love starts laughing as hard as he can. The comic soon becomes annoyed by Buddy. The sequence that follows has to be seen because it is one of the funniest moments in the movie.
However, Buddy begins to overtake Sherman and they soon fight for whose body it is. The final moments, where Sherman and Buddy fight, are spectacular and hilarious. Eddie Murphy does a wonderful job portraying this moment, as well as every other moment in the movie. Murphy is back! And I almost think that his explanation at the end of the movie is also for the viewers because he "thought that this is what everyone wanted him to be." But it wasn't and now, hopefully, Murphy will get more movies like this.
The Nutty Professor is rated PG-13. It's got a lot of crude and vulgar humor, but it is funny crude humor. There is no sex (on-screen anyway) or nudity. The film probably is better for younger kids, despite the PG-13 rating, because the humor is more for them. Adults (30 and up) will find it disgusting (as did my parents) and not funny. But then again, you might have really cool parents.